U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2025

Greg Sanders

Oak Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Another amazing round. Obviously in that second round of stroke play, you went on a pretty big run. When we were talking yesterday, you said I should come into every match expecting to win, but that's not necessarily the reality. Here you are having won two more matches today. How are you feeling going into the final championship tomorrow?

GREG SANDERS: I'm not sure expecting to win is the right -- what I've been telling myself since the matches started is like, I'm already here, I might as well go try to win each match. That kind of idea has worked.

Boy, I'm really excited to be in the finals. There's some good players out there, and how did I do that. I am still wondering actually that.

It wasn't easy because both matches today, we both kind of went on runs. I might be 3-up or maybe 4-up, and all of a sudden I'm only 1-up or back to even. It's like, oh, my gosh. It was never boom, boom, boom, boom. It was like a bunch and then give it back.

The course was playing hard, and when you start losing some holes, like okay, just make a really solid par. Birdies are hard to come by. Or I might just say, gosh, just make a good swing and hit this anywhere in this fairway, stuff like that.

In general, I putted -- been putting good. Well, the last putt of the morning match was ridiculous. I can't even believe I made that. That was about the only reason I'm saying I putted well. But I haven't been three-putting at all. I think I three-putted early in the matches a couple times.

I'm not sure what to expect in the finals. This is my first time through.

Q. I'm not sure if you know this, but with just making it to the final match, you're already exempt into the Senior Open next year at Scioto Country Club --

GREG SANDERS: I try to qualify every year for the Senior Open. This year I was second alternate in the finals. First alternate would have got in. That's really exciting. That's so awesome. Wow. That's going to be a fabulous golf course; are you kidding me? Isn't that where Nicklaus grew up?

Q. The big storyline going into it is a certain someone by the last name of Woods will be old enough to play in the Senior Open. We haven't heard for sure if he's going to play or not, but he is going to be age eligible next year, so that could be something.

GREG SANDERS: No way. Wow.

Q. Just in our conversations yesterday and even since we started, you're definitely one of the more joyful players that we've talked to. Do you have an element of joy that you play with when you're out there, that keeps you in the moment?

GREG SANDERS: No, I'm a grinder. Sometimes it actually feels like work. The joy is just the results I'm getting more than anything.

This is my fifth Senior Am, I think, and I haven't really done that well before. This is a happy surprise. I will say, though, starting about three months ago, I found something, and I'm actually still trying to figure out what "it" is, and I did, and I haven't always played perfect, but I've been playing pretty good, and this is just part of that roll, and I'm supposed to just let it continue.

Q. Going into tomorrow, we have one more match. Your body has been through a lot. Is there one particular part of your game that you feel like has been above the rest and has been helping you get this far?

GREG SANDERS: Yeah, I would say I haven't actually been that accurate off the tee, honestly, and it's not like I've been hitting all the fairways. So probably one of the best parts of my game has been sometimes making a spectacular shot from underneath trees or out of the rough. That's probably been -- as far as in a match, that's probably what has been -- can be demoralizing if you're the opponent because they think I'm in jail and I've been able to get out of jail a few times.